How to Absorb Nutrients Better

You can pair different nutrients together in a meal to make them readily absorbed by your body.

• It is a known fact that vitamin D makes absorption of calcium much more effective than if you take calcium alone.
• Pairing tomatoes and avocados can give you much better health benefits than eating any one of them alone.
• Taking green tea and vitamin C rich foods together can be helpful in increasing the absorption of antioxidants (catechins) in it.
• Vitamins B6, B12 and thiamine eaten together in one meal can be helpful in preventing artery damage. So, before you prepare your meal, take time to plan it and pair the nutrients wisely.
• For people who need a source of iron that doesn't come from animals, it's highly useful to mix rice with lentils or any other legume, as they help increase the amount of iron your body will absorb. Take a look at the best recipes that are high in iron for some great ideas.

Black pepper has piperine that can rev up your digestion and increase nutrient absorption in your body. Black pepper is known to stimulate appetite and aid nutrient absorption. It is warming and can increase the heat of your digestive system. Due to this, you become hungrier and capable of burning complex nutrients in a more digestible form.

You may not want to add any fat to your food, and you might think that you are eating it healthy. But in reality, absence of any fat can prevent your body from absorbing the available nutrients fully, which is why using healthy sources of fat is a good idea.

While it is recommended to stay away from calorie dense, super-heavy, creamy fat and dressings, adding a couple of drops of olive oil or some slices of avocado in your salad can actually increase the nutritional level of your meal. A little amount of vegetable-source fat is required to better digest the carotenoids and phytochemicals in your food. So, adding a little fat is not harmful, but actually helpful.

Even if you are having an excellent diet, the bacteria in your gut, known as intestinal flora, plays a crucial role in giving you proper growth and nutrition. These are friendly bacteria in the digestive system which aid in the breaking down of food, thus allowing the body to make use of all the available nutrients. Taking probiotics on a daily basis will keep the friendly bacteria in your gut healthy, active and flourishing, thus helping you to make the best use of your food.

Your lifestyle can have significant effects on the way your body absorbs the nutrients in your diet. Let's take a look at these useful tips:

1. It is recommended to eat whole foods as far as possible and take a high fiber diet.
2. Avoid harmful substances like alcohol and tobacco, as these can play with your metabolism and nutrient absorption. Consumption of too much of alcohol, tobacco and caffeine can also be detrimental in decreasing your absorption of nutrients. They temporarily stir up inflammation in your intestinal walls, thus affecting your digestive enzymes negatively.
3. Exercise regularly. Exercise is a sure-shot way to reduce stress in a number of ways.
4. Stress changes the levels of hormones circulating in your system, due to which metabolism is affected and may slow down, and your mental clarity and nutritional balance is reduced significantly. Having a morning and evening walk and spending time outdoors can be helpful for your entire health. Consume more foods like asparagus and raspberries to reduce your cortisol levels and reduce stress.

We all know that deep frying food isn't the best way to help your body absorb the nutrients it needs, but what is the best way to cook to absorb nutrients?

The answer is three different methods: baking, grilling and seaming food, the latter being the best choice out of all three.

However, it is said that some foods are better eaten raw, as the cooking process makes the ingredient lose its original nutrients. The foods that are best eaten raw are:

• Celery
• Pepper
• Coconut
• Avocado
• Olive oil
• Sunflower seeds
• Leafy greens

Having said this, there are also vegetables that are better cooked than raw, so check out this oneHOWTO article to learn about them.

This article is merely informative, oneHOWTO does not have the authority to prescribe any medical treatments or create a diagnosis. We invite you to visit your doctor if you have any type of condition or pain.

If you want to read similar articles to How to Absorb Nutrients Better, we recommend you visit our Healthy living category.